Don’t fear an increasing minimum wage – it helps the country’s poorest June 11, 2015 The great challenge for the government over the next five years is to raise productivity and living standards, while also continuing in its efforts to cut the deficit. Significant reform to planning, skills, tax and regulation will all be necessary. But one regulation which should not be abolished is the National Minimum Wage (NMW). When [...]
Sharing cities have come to the UK – and London will be next June 11, 2015 If you're a Londoner, it’s pretty likely that you will have used a sharing economy business. From driving a Zipcar or hiring a local Hassle.com cleaner, to staying in Love Home Swap apartments around the world, we are increasingly confident using sharing economy services. But there are cities around the world – Amsterdam, Seoul and [...]
Is George Osborne right to prioritise a quick sale of the government’s stake in RBS? June 11, 2015 Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, says Yes With the current stock market offering reasonable value and conditions, and because the market price was not expected to rise significantly before any action was taken, George Osborne is right to take the decision to prioritise the sell-off the state’s stake in RBS. The [...]
Film review: Jurassic World is a blast from the past June 11, 2015 Cert 12 | ★★★★☆ Devil-may-care action hero? Check. Uptight career woman? Yup. Evil corporation? Obviously. Science gone wrong? Kids in peril? Emotional family drama? Check, check, and check. Jurassic World is a relentless succession of clichés – but, damn, it’s a lot of fun. After two relatively disappointing sequels, this is a pulpy, [...]
Something for the weekend June 11, 2015 DRINK! BROWN’S HOTEL This weekend, slip on your best suit and saunter down to the Donovan Bar at Brown’s Hotel to sample one of London’s best cocktail menus, including the Smoking Mary, a bloody mary with actual bacon and a Haribo fried egg. Call 0207 493 6020 to make a reservation WATCH! BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S [...]
Leaving London: Is moving out of the Big Smoke good value for money? The pros and cons June 11, 2015 With London homes so expensive, more people than ever are thinking of escaping to the country. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? We’ve teamed up with the help of property agent Savills to challenge the assumption that you’ll get better value for your money buying outside the capital. For some, the [...]
Clarendon Works in Notting Hill: Inside W11’s quirkiest brick factory June 11, 2015 Discover the definition of industrial chic in a smart neighbourhood in Notting Hill. For tips on how to modernise industrial architecture in London, look no further than Clarendon Works. This Victorian brick-making factory is an iconic building in Notting Hill, with its cavernous proportions and red brick exterior. It’s also an impressively wide house, [...]
Work hard? Live harder in the City’s Brutalist Barbican Estate masterpiece June 11, 2015 When the Barbican was first conceived in the 1960s, it was a utopian ideal for inner city-living. Well ahead of its time, its cutting-edge, controversial architecture interweaved with public gardens, restaurants, shops, cultural destinations and a school. Brutalist architects Chamberlain, Powell and Bon then built four large residential towers that would become the Barbican [...]
Focus on Balham: Once the butt of jokes, now the SW place to be June 11, 2015 When Peter Sellers said Balham was the “Gateway to the South” he was poking fun at the fact that nothing of note ever happened there. A semi-suburban no man’s land at the bottom of the Northern Line, it was the pinnacle of meh – the kind of place north Londoners probably think about when they [...]
Independent shops are bringing some much-needed cool to London’s housing schemes June 11, 2015 There was a time when retailers were an afterthought to housing developers. But increasingly sophisticated homeowners, used to an urban village life among coffee shops and boutiques, are demanding more. “Ideally, you want to bring the commercial side in as soon as you can,” says John Anderson, chairman of developer Berkeley Homes, East Thames. [...]
